Question 1

What does the Score mean?

Accepted Answer

When you sign up for Swabber you can upload your STI test directly from your lab. Since we know it is authentic, we give you a Swabber Authentication which means your test is real, trustworthy, and younger than 1 year old. After 1 year, your test expires because sexually active people should be getting tested at least once per year (more frequently if they have more partners).

We'll read the test and give you a STATUS. The status is seen on your home screen and you can show that to your partner to let them know you have been tested and what your status was from your test.

The Score-  The Score is a bit tricky. It's a statistical value of Sexual Responsibility. What this means is that according to your behaviors and things you can control, you have earned a certain value which they can use to decide if they feel comfortable with risk. The higher the score,  the more responsible actions you have taken to reduce risk.

Why? 
In current the fast dating culture,  it's not easy to manage risk of transmitting infections. Even someone you trust can unknowingly carry and infection and easily transmit them if you are using with condoms. Having a program which 1. Shows they were tested recently, 2. Let's you see that status transparently, and 3. can offer an estimate of how much they care about safety according to their past behavior, will give partners a significant advantage over what they currently have to manage risk.

Also consider that more than 25% of the population has an STI, but it does not mean they should be isolated. A person can have a positive infection status, and still have a high score if they have done things which are still sexually responsible. 
It's important to note that The score is not a predictor of risk of transmitting an infection it does not guarantee your safety.  However,  it is built to measure your behaviors which do reduce risk of infections. So we can tell your partner how responsible you are.

Some examples of the variables we measure are:

The ratio of how frequently you are tested according to how many partners you have.  It's ok to have different partners, or multiple partners, but to keep your score high, it would be important to test more frequently. We also provide reminders  when you cross those safety thresholds to make sure you can keep your score high ;)

Education content- The easiest way to improve your score is to complete our education content. It's by no means a complete work, but having a population with basic understanding of how infections spread is going to be a great improvement for reducing infections. Having a partner with a high score means they have completed that content and is on the same page as you regarding safety.

Past Partners- If you have knowingly been with a partner who has an easily treatable infection such as Chlamydia, this is not very responsible behavior and your score will decrease.  If you knowingly matched with someone who has a low score, that can also affect your score negatively.

Treatment & Testing- If you have a treatable infection and are treated and receive a new test with negative result, your score would be improved. However, if you are positive for a treatable infection and you continue to match with people, your score will diminish. If you are positive for a non-treatable infection, your score will not necessarily go down if you continue to connect with people.

There are literally hundreds of variables, but I hope that helps you to understand a bit more about how this can educate and motivate responsible behavior and reduce the spread of infections.

Of course, reach out to use if you still have questions!

Question 2

I'm worried about sharing my private data with a partner

Accepted Answer

That's one of our biggest concerns too. So that's why we don't share it. 
OK, but how are you "transparent" if you don't share my data? 
So that's what the score is for. None of the details of your test or connections are shared unless you show them to your partner from you phone.

When they ask if you were tested, you can show them your screen which shows your verified infection Status, and it shows just the Number of your Sexual Responsibility Score. That's all. 
If you are negative, then everything is good to go. You can connect and improve your score by connecting with people on the Swabber system. 
If you are positive for an infection and still want to continue, then you can show them the specific infection if you are comfortable. If you aren't, then that is ok too, but at least they were informed that there was an infection they should know about. 
But hopefully you'll continue to talk with them and show the specific information about the infection you have.

Remember, infections affect everyone differently. You might have zero symptoms, but it could have life-long consequences for their health if they caught it. So it's important that they make that decision and that they have accurate information to decide.

We want to encourage safe, and healthy sex lives for people with infections, so we provide a guide to prevent transmission and continue safely.

Question 3

Will my partners be able to know when I match with others?

Accepted Answer

No. Totally not. 
It's important to know who matches with whom so we can help you know your risk of transmitting an infection, but no one ever sees that info. Only  our most elite nerds in the AI research department.

Ok, but can the Nerds see it? 
No. Because we anonymize all the data to keep it safe. So even if one of our nerds went evil villain and wanted to release that info, there would literally just be a bunch of numbers and little data points.

So what are you doing with it? 
I'm so glad you asked!  So we map a network of partners to do several things: 
Notify you if you might be infected. If you are with someone and they get tested later, and it turns out they had an infection, we can notify you that you might have been infected so you should use precaution until you can get tested again. Some infections can turn up from contact long ago, so you or your partner aren't necessarily on (or off) the hook for cheating just because you come positive for an infection since your last test. It just helps to close that window of transmission by notifying people as soon as possible. 
Research- By having a network map of partners, accurate infection status, locations, and some sexual behaviors, we can better understand how to effectively combat infections. Currently, we don't have accurate information about the rates of infections or about the behaviors which influence transmission most. 
Biosecurity- So this is a long term goal for us, but to make this network of partners is kinda a hard task. If we are able to make Swabber successful at notifying people when an infection is higher risk in their area then we could someday do the same with other infections. More and more infections are being discovered and avoiding transmission, early detection, and rapid response are the best ways to make sure they don't get very far. Swabber hopes we can reduce other infections someday too.

Do you sell or share that data with anyone else?
	No. We make academic research in house which is published and made available to the scientific community. All your data is anonymous before we conduct research. No specifics are ever shared and no personally identifying information is ever disclosed.

Someday we want to make possible for you to integrate your Swabber authentication onto your dating site profile, but it would only show that you had a Swabber badge. It means that people could see that you have a valid STI test less than a year old. Even that shares no information.

Question 4

What do you do with my data?

Accepted Answer

I'm so glad you asked!  So we map a network of partners  to do several things:

Notify you if you might be at risk. If you are with someone and they get tested later, and it turns out they had an infection, we can notify you that you might have been infected so you should use precaution until you can get tested again. Some infections can turn up from contact long ago, so you or your partner aren't necessarily on (or off) the hook for cheating just because you come positive for an infection since your last test. It just helps to close that window of transmission by notifying people as soon as possible. 
Research- By having a network map of partners, accurate infection status, locations, and some sexual behaviors, we can better understand how to effectively combat infections. Currently, we don't have accurate information about the rates of infections or about the behaviors which influence transmission most. 
Predict Infection Outbreaks in a location- with a network map of users, we can start to see early warning signs of infections which are on the rise. In some areas, access to medication or care can be difficult when cases surge. EARLY DETECTION AND RAPID RESPONSE are some of the best ways to tackle the rise of infection rates. Swabber isn't just trying to help people hook up safely, we are trying to reduce infections globally at the source. :) 
Biosecurity- So this is a long term goal for us, but to make this network of partners is kind of a hard task. If we are able to make Swabber successful at notifying people when an infection is higher risk in their area then we could someday do the same with other infections. More and more infections are being discovered and avoiding transmission, early detection, and rapid response are the best ways to make sure they don't get very far. Swabber hopes we can reduce other infections someday too.